Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice appreciated the maturity his team showed in its recent comeback victory and hopes it carries over into a more complete performance the next time they take the ice.
The Panthers are looking for their third consecutive win, which would match a season high they have reached twice, when they visit the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Florida rallied with four consecutive goals, including three in the third period, to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Thursday night. Anton Lundell’s second goal of the game, with 2:40 remaining after a no-look feed from Brady Tkachuk, proved to be the difference.
Sam Reinhart, Gustav Forsling and Lars Eller also scored, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists for the Panthers. Reinhart’s 11 goals lead Florida, with Tkachuk and Verhaeghe next at 10 apiece.
“We’re going on the road for two games now and hopefully we can carry some energy from the third period over,” Verhaeghe said. “It’s been a pretty heavy road schedule so far.”
The Panthers recently completed a three-game road trip on which they went 1-2-0. With his team in the middle of playing seven games in 12 days, Maurice said he was anticipating a disappointing first period at some point. The Red Wings provided a challenging test, but the Panthers showed resilience.
“When I say that I was disappointed in the start — you know that’s coming in one of these seven in (12),” Maurice told reporters. “You’re getting a start like that. Being able to handle it and stay in the game, even if you’re getting bad breaks around the net. Some nights you’re ahead of the game; you’re playing great but you’re behind in the score and you’ve still got the belief. (Thursday), we were behind it. But we understood it. That was a pretty mature game.”
Meeting the Panthers for the first time this season, the Blues will try to put together a three-game winning streak for the first time after falling short in three previous attempts.
St. Louis is 5-2-1 at home and arrives after beating the Utah Mammoth 1-0 in a shootout in Salt Lake City on Thursday night. Connor McMichael scored in the eighth round to clinch the victory after goaltender Joel Hofer made 29 saves through regulation and overtime.
Blues coach Jim Montgomery said he wants his team to play faster and convert more power-play opportunities, but he is pleased with the goaltending and the overall effort during a stretch in which St. Louis has earned points in four of seven games.
“I love the way our team’s able to find ways to win right now,” Montgomery said.
Jimmy Snuggerud leads the Blues with 10 goals, including seven in the past 12 games.
Hofer has two shutouts this season and 10 in his career, tying Jacques Plante, Manny Legace and Mike Liut for ninth-most in Blues franchise history.
“You know Hof’s locked in,” left winger Jake Neighbours said.
The Panthers will be without Brad Marchand and captain Aleksander Barkov because of injuries, but both are reportedly progressing toward a return within the next two weeks.
